Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Bourbon is always a good intro to whiskey drinking, thanks to its sweeter flavor profile. I recently tasted Brown Sugar Bourbon from Heritage Distilling, a distillery in Gig-Harbor, Washington.

The Brown Sugar Bourbon, or BSB, is an award-winning spirit in the Flavored Whiskey category, having received the gold medal from American Distilling Institute and World Whiskies Awards.
The whiskey is a corn, rye, and malted barley mash aged for less than 2 years in new American oak barrels. After aging, natural brown sugar and cinnamon flavors are added.

It's rich and sweet on the palate, naturally with plenty of cinnamon flavors. I imagine drinking this neat by the fireplace in the winter. Or on the rocks by a campfire, either way. This flavored whiskey had enough going for itself that you really don't need to mix this with anything, but just enjoy it on the rocks. It's easy enough drinking on its own!

I got this around July 4, though, and I had a BBQ with friends in my "backyard" (it's basically a parking lot but whatever). I decided to make a cocktail for my friends using a grilled ingredient!Grilled Pineapple Old Fashioned

How to make:
Grill some pineapple slices until it's charred. Cut into small cubes
Muddle 1 sugar cube and 2 dashes of Angostura bitters with cubes from one slice of grilled pineapple.
Combine 1.5 oz BSB
Stir over ice

Strain over an ice sphere or giant ice cube, because it was 90+ degrees outside!

I love making Old Fashioned variations because they're easy to make once you get it down. Thanks to the BSB and pineapple, this was a sweeter rendition of Old Fashioned with a smoky aroma.

I had an idea stuck in my mind, though, to make a coffee cocktail with it.

Phoenix Swill

1.5 oz BSB
1.5 oz cold brew coffee
juice from 1/4 of an orange

Mix with ice, strain over an ice sphere. Now, for my personal taste the BSB is sweet enough that with the little bit of fresh orange juice, you don't need another sweetener. Should you want a sweeter drink, though, feel free to put in a teaspoonful of agave syrup.

I gave it this name because even though I didn't know it when I made the cocktail, apparently coffee and orange juice combo is a real thing. Particularly, espresso and orange juice is apparently a big thing in Phoenix, according to this Extra Crispy article. Who knew?

The BSB is retailing around $30, pretty good value!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Heritage Distilling. All opinions are my own.